Another Actress Lashes Out At Gender Pay Gap, Is Hollywood Listening?

The Swedish actress opens up about gender pay-gap, says it is “absolutely ridiculous” how men get paid more than women.

Patricia Arquette publicly denounced the gender pay-gap onstage last year while receiving the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Boyhood. Since then, award ceremonies and fashion shows have become a platform for female celebrities where they can open up about the widespread gender discrimination in the entertainment industry. This year, Noomi Rapace, best-known for her role in the Millennium trilogy, voiced her grievance during the Moschino fashion show on Sunday.

"It's absolutely ridiculous that men get paid more than women," she stated in an interview. "It has to change."

There are a lot more women writers, directors and producers than there were a decade ago and more stories that focus on the role of a woman. Rapace thinks that a big change is now on the way. She revealed her mentor and inspiration is Glenn Close who taught Rapace to stand strong.

"We had 10 days together working and in those 10 days I really observed Glenn, who has been my hero for so many years," she said. "She was the sweetest person. That becomes the greatest stand for you as an artist, that you don't have to be like a diva or rude to people."

The actress’ issue about wage pay gap is evident, if you look at the 2015 statistics for the highest paid actor and actresses.

Jennifer Lawrence, who was the highest paid actress in 2015, earned $52 million pre-tax but she was behind Robert Downey Jr. (who cashed up to $80 million) by huge leaps and bounds. In fact, the second highest-paid actress, Scarlett Johansson earned only $35.5 million dollars which is almost $5million less than Tom Cruise, who stood at number 6 of the highest-paid actors list.

Noomi Rapace, in comparison earns a paltry $2.4 million despite having huge blockbusters to her name. One wonders if a male lead had played in her movies, would he be earning the same amount?